The Slime People (1963)

From the DVD case: They came from deep beneath the earth’s surface: grotesque, reptilian creatures covered with slime, forced from their subterranean lair by underground nuclear testing. Setting up an almost impenetrable dome of fog over L.A. to lower the city’s temperature and make the surface more habitable, they’ve emerged from the sewers and cesspools, impervious to attack and mad as hell. Now, Los Angeles has been evacuated, its empty streets shrouded in a permanent twilight. Except for a small band of survivors, the Slime People have the city all to themselves. Holed up in a television station, pilot Tom Gregory, Professor Galbraith, his daughters Lisa and Bonnie, and marine Cal Johnson have been left behind doomed to a fate worse than death, unless they can find a way to penetrate the wall of fog that imprisons them.

Mark says: Robert Hutton (Invisible Invaders, The Colossus of New York) stars in and makes his directorial debut with The Slime People. Hutton’s inexperience as a director is painfully evident from frame one. Any chance the film had for building suspense is blown in the first few minutes of footage. Without buildup or fanfare, we are introduced to the creatures as they emerge from their sewer lairs. The monsters, undoubtedly, are the highpoint of this movie, but exposing them so early on seems premature and demonstrates poor showmanship. Or perhaps the philosophy was to hook the audience immediately before they could walk out from this talky and mostly non-action filled flick.

Though released in 1963, TheSlime People seems more at home with the cheapie science fiction fare of the latter 1950s. All the elements are here: a cheesy premise, subpar acting, rubber-suited monsters, and an exceedingly low budget. Hutton states the budget for the film was $56,000, with three or four thousand dollars going to the creation of the Slime People costumes alone. Still, he was able to bring the movie in under cost, allowing the excess money to go for advertising. Roger Corman himself couldn’t boast more efficiency. Well, maybe.

The monsters are pretty cool, as long as we see them in head and shoulder shots. Once we see full body shots, they lose their menace. From the waist down it is apparent they are wearing costume pants. Robert Hutton reported in an interview with film historian, Tom Weaver, that they could only afford to have two Slime People outfits produced, but in several brief scenes we see three. Three stuntmen are also listed at IMDb (Bob Herron, Jock Putman, and Fred Stromsoe). We see these two or three creatures a lot, as they need to represent an army of Slime People. The monsters are bulky, and clumsy, making it hard to believe they could defeat the entire U.S. Army and drive out the inhabitants of Los Angeles. It’s also unlikely that creatures that can construct a machine that creates a domed wall around a metropolitan city would be reduced to using hollow spears as their only form of weaponry. But that’s part of the fun of B movies.

Richard Arlen was originally slated to play Professor Galbraith, but became ill the day before shooting and was replaced by Robert Burton (I Was a Teenage Frankenstein, Invasion of the Animal People). This would be Mr. Burton’s last picture, as he died of a heart attack shortly after filming. Professor Galbraith’s daughters, Lisa and Bonnie, are played by Susan Hart (The Ghost in the Invisible Bikini) and Judee Morton, respectively. According to Robert Hutton, Susan Hart landed the role because she looked good in a sweater. William Boyce, who plays the young marine, Cal Johnson, was found, “walking down the street one day,” and had no previous motion picture experience. The acting is about what you would expect, with a lot of awkward romantic scenes between the two daughters and the leading men.

Surprisingly, Les Tremayne (War of the Worlds, The Monolith Monsters) makes a brief appearance as the eccentric writer, Norman Tolliver. This role is beneath a man who is legendary for his early radio work and extensive acting resume. Les Tremayne is one of my personal heroes, and I have mixed feelings about seeing him in this production. It’s a pleasure to see him in anything, but the role of Tolliver is so ridiculous that it is almost painful to watch. I was pleased to read that Mr. Tremayne did this picture as a personal favor to Robert Hutton and that he wasn’t doing it because he was down on his luck.

A major flaw, or one of many major flaws, is the film’s use of fog. The premise is that the Slime People create the fog to keep the temperature suitable for their existence. The fog also solidifies to create the dome over the city. Unfortunately, the fog becomes so thick at times that we can barely see what is happening. This is particularly frustrating during the action sequences. We wait and wait for something to happen, and when it does, we can’t see it.

The Slime People, for all its failings, is not a total loss. I begrudgingly enjoy the movie on a childlike level. On an adult level, it is just silly enough to be fun. Mind you, I have a high tolerance for schlock entertainment.

It should come as no surprise that not only was this the first motion picture Robert Hutton directed, but it would also be his last.

Scene to watch for: Mrs. Castillo has a hysterical breakdown during her television interview.

Line to listen for: “He’s a great writer, but the biggest troublemaker I’ve ever known. Besides, I think he’s a potential psycho.”

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5 Comments

When I was reading your review, I was confusing Robert Hutton with Robert Horton. Horton starred in TV westerns like Wagon Train and was also in a “slime” movie, the terribly cheap Japanese/US film The Green Slime.

I’ve seen photos of The Slime People, like the one you’ve posted, in magazines like Famous Monsters of Filmland, but have never seen the movie. It sounds like a candidate for Mystery Science Theater 3000. Who knows, if I had seen this film in the theaters when it was released in 1963, it might have been a favorite of mine. It seems that the monster movies I saw when I was between 9 and 13 years old have a special place in my childhood memories, no matter how bad they were.

I’ve not seen it, but MST3K did do a treatment of this movie early on in the series. From what I’ve read, they focused a lot on the absurdity of the dense fog

I’m with you, Paul. I associate these movies with my own childhood, and critiquing them can seem a bit pointless. I mean, I LOVED these movies, so who am I to poke fun at them now that I’m all grown up and sophisticated? That’s why I say that this site exists more as a tribute page than a review page. These reviews are a way for me to keep a bit of my childhood alive, and to share these memories with others, like you. I think there’s something special about being from a generation that could find thrills in cheap rubber-suited monsters and half-baked plots. It’s sort of a lost innocence that you won’t likely find these days. But I’d better stop myself before I start sounding like ol’ Grandpa Mark again.

I love the poster, too! I’ve been having problems getting screen captures from my new computer, so I’ve been relying on images from the internet. I was very happy to come across this gem. I can only imagine how many kids actually pressed their ears against the poster to hear the secret that would save their lives!

You’re right about the lost innocence of today’s generation. Back when I would watch a Ray Harryhausen movie, the monsters were magic. I knew they were puppets, but I had no idea how they moved without strings. Today, with special edition DVDs, everything is explained in detail. The magicians have revealed the secrets of their tricks and they aren’t as fascinating as they once were.